For Conference on World Affairs participants, there are two types of panels to land on -- the expected ones that are clear matches for their expertise, and wild cards.

The latter describes Sarah Holewinski's placement on Thursday's panel discussing the topic, "Gays, immigrants and women in the military."

Through her career, Holewinski has worked with civilians who have been traumatized by wars.

The goal of her organization, Center for Civilians in Conflict, is to make warring parties more responsible to civilians before, during and after armed conflict. The founder of the organization, Marla Ruzicka, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2005 while advocating for Iraqi families.

Holewinski says the military is a lens that much of the world sees the United States through, and so it should represent the diversity of the nation.

Q. What kind of meaning do you find in your job as executive director of the Center for Civilians in Conflict?

What really gets me going in the morning is knowing I get to have an impact on how wars are fought. It sounds arrogant, and it's not meant to be. But I might be able to, through my career, change the mind of a three-star general about civilians in conflict or get government assistance for war victims.

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Q. You've traveled to Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Lebanon and Israel to lobby for smarter, more compassionate policies for war victims. What takeaway lessons from these trips are you able to share with your audiences?

I've sat in the living rooms of war victims and heard their stories and thought, 'What are we going to do about this? How can we convince the United States to do something for this person?' I got to Afghanistan about twice a year. There's every category of tragedy and horror that war victims are going through there -- death, injury, property loss, displacement, incredible depression and fear. They're concerned about what the future of their country is going to look like, which makes it difficult to have hope or optimism.

Q. How -- if at all -- do you think the military will change with women being allowed in combat?

I don't necessarily know that it will. The more diverse, the better. The military is a very hierarchical organization. You're broken down and you're taught to think a certain way. I'm not sure women will respond to that any differently than men.

Q. The panel topic centers on gays, women and immigrants in the military. What changes in the military do you hope to see in the next decade that would affect these populations?

Greater acceptance. I think it will be unfortunate if they keep having to prove their worth instead of the military welcoming them with open arms and saying, 'We need you.' The diversity of the military needs to reflect that of our country. So much of the world sees the United States through its military.

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